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Round 2 vs Souths

Saint_JimmyG

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
grouch said:
Souths were missing an international prop in George Burgess, John Sutton went off injured, and Greg Inglis is well below peak fitness.

They've got heaps of improvement in them and they lapped us
Click to expand...

I’ll be surprised if Souths don’t win the comp this year.
 
Saint_JimmyG

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
Dennis Papaioannou said:
These situations provide an opportunity for newbies to step up and enhance their reputation at the highest level.
So far, that has not happened. I reckon a lot of the reason is that McGregor is not capable of moulding the young guys into his squad and make them productive from day one.
Many coaches use adversity in their favour to lift teams and help them perform in adversity.
Look at Green and the Cowboys in 2017.
Fell into the 8 with an injury list as long as your arm - at our expense mind you.
Missing Thurston - their chief playmaker and took his team all the way to the GF.
So your point is well made except that McGregor is not Paul Green and Widdop is not Thurston.
IMO Widdop has never been the one to take us to a GF.
Neither as a playmaker or as a captain.
At some point he lost interest in St. George and made a decision to move back to the UK.
Totally his prerogative even though he will not see out his contract.
Play Widdop at 5/8 or at Fullback it doesn't matter.
The current situation will not deliver a premiership and it is flawed to keep hoping that Widdop is some kind of genius that is going to get us there.
I would rather let him go as soon as he announced his intentions and turn over a new leaf.
2019 we will again be treading water.
Click to expand...

Your criticism towards Widdop fails to acknowledge that during his tenure with SGI he hasn’t had a genuine first grade halfback next to him. From memory, the “luminaries” Gareth has had to work with include Witt, Williams, McCrone, an aging Marshall and even JDB. No five-eighth can work to his optimum with so much chop and change.

Of course, this changed with Ben Hunt and the results were there for all to see.

What does McIdiot do? We all know the answer.

And, it’s doubtful Widdop wants to the UK just for so called family reasons.
 
Dennis Papaioannou

Dennis Papaioannou

Bench
Messages
2,866
Saint_JimmyG said:
Your criticism towards Widdop fails to acknowledge that during his tenure with SGI he hasn’t had a genuine first grade halfback next to him. From memory, the “luminaries” Gareth has had to work with include Witt, Williams, McCrone, an aging Marshall and even JDB. No five-eighth can work to his optimum with so much chop and change.

Of course, this changed with Ben Hunt and the results were there for all to see.

What does McIdiot do? We all know the answer.

And, it’s doubtful Widdop wants to the UK just for so called family reasons.
Click to expand...
I understand what you're saying but in the examples you provided, McCrone was a halfback who was transformed into an tradesman like hooker. We then tried to turn him into a half back again and Widdop actually chose him as his halves partner because the theory was that McCrone complimented Widdop's style of play!
With Benji I disagree. Benji is also a 5/8 so the combination was wrong to start with.
That was evidenced in many games they played together.
McGregor was never able to sort it out and as a result that combination also failed.
Benji has gone on to prove that he is not a spent force by any stretch of the imagination.
What you are ostensibly saying is that Widdop has been hampered because he has never had a specialist halfback to partner him.
He won a premiership playing second fiddle to Cronk at Melbourne but Cronk is halfback royalty so I'm not sure that proves much.
In the fair dinkum department and with hand on heart, where do you rate Widdop in the list of 5/8's that are running around this season? I'm taking about:
*Keary
*Cody Walker
*Green
*Munster
*Milford
*Malone
*Johnson
*
 
Saint_JimmyG

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
Dennis Papaioannou said:
I understand what you're saying but in the examples you provided, McCrone was a halfback who was transformed into an tradesman like hooker. We then tried to turn him into a half back again and Widdop actually chose him as his halves partner because the theory was that McCrone complimented Widdop's style of play!
With Benji I disagree. Benji is also a 5/8 so the combination was wrong to start with.
That was evidenced in many games they played together.
McGregor was never able to sort it out and as a result that combination also failed.
Benji has gone on to prove that he is not a spent force by any stretch of the imagination.
What you are ostensibly saying is that Widdop has been hampered because he has never had a specialist halfback to partner him.
He won a premiership playing second fiddle to Cronk at Melbourne but Cronk is halfback royalty so I'm not sure that proves much.
In the fair dinkum department and with hand on heart, where do you rate Widdop in the list of 5/8's that are running around this season? I'm taking about:
*Keary
*Cody Walker
*Green
*Munster
*Milford
*Malone
*Johnson
*
Click to expand...

Second on that list behind Maloney.
 
Saint_JimmyG

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
Dennis Papaioannou said:
We happen to agree on #1
Click to expand...

The balance of probabilities suggest we would have to agree....eventually.

One issue that hasn’t been discussed is goal kicking post 2018. With Widdop going, this area needs to be addressed. One would hope Zac Lomax would fill the gap but there’s no certainty he will gain a first grade spot in the near future.
 
Old Timer

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
18,000
Dennis Papaioannou said:
I understand what you're saying but in the examples you provided, McCrone was a halfback who was transformed into an tradesman like hooker. We then tried to turn him into a half back again and Widdop actually chose him as his halves partner because the theory was that McCrone complimented Widdop's style of play!
With Benji I disagree. Benji is also a 5/8 so the combination was wrong to start with.
That was evidenced in many games they played together.
McGregor was never able to sort it out and as a result that combination also failed.
Benji has gone on to prove that he is not a spent force by any stretch of the imagination.
What you are ostensibly saying is that Widdop has been hampered because he has never had a specialist halfback to partner him.
He won a premiership playing second fiddle to Cronk at Melbourne but Cronk is halfback royalty so I'm not sure that proves much.
In the fair dinkum department and with hand on heart, where do you rate Widdop in the list of 5/8's that are running around this season? I'm taking about:
*Keary
*Cody Walker
*Green
*Munster
*Milford
*Malone
*Johnson
*
Click to expand...
Walker, Milford, Maloney, Johnson you are kidding surely.
 
J

jeffdragon

Bench
Messages
3,921
  1. I didn't think second half would be a blowout.
Thought if we scored first would have been good.
But before the game I thought souths would win easy.
We gave them every opportunity in the early stages of the 2nd by not gathering kicks.
And our defence was soft
Ravalawa has to go.
Lomax in and widdop. back to halves .
 
possm

possm

Coach
Messages
15,973
jeffdragon said:
  1. I didn't think second half would be a blowout.
Thought if we scored first would have been good.
But before the game I thought souths would win easy.
We gave them every opportunity in the early stages of the 2nd by not gathering kicks.
And our defence was soft
Ravalawa has to go.
Lomax in and widdop. back to halves .
Click to expand...

Aitken and Ravalawa to Canterbury Cup with Lomax and Pearson replacing them. K Sims to the right edge with Host on the bench. I think these changes will go a long way to addressing our soft right edge in defence.
 
sco22

sco22

Juniors
Messages
316
Objective View said:
Mate, the microscope won't shift because of two losses. He's managed end off year slumps year on year without any repercussions.

JDB is a ready made excuse. As is the Widdop disruption. The board back him. Like politics, factional leaders don't care about the greater good, only themselves.

Straight Shooter
Click to expand...
Everyone ripping in and stating the obvious but the real question.

Why is McGregor still coaching why after all that’s been going on for years
 
True_Believer

True_Believer

Juniors
Messages
1,841
Dennis Papaioannou said:
We then tried to turn him into a half back again and Widdop actually chose him as his halves partner because the theory was that McCrone complimented Widdop's style of play!
Click to expand...

I believe this to be correct. However, there is no indication that McCrone was the best solution, just the only available player that fitted that play style. Rather than slot someone else in who clashed with the game style (whatever happened to the forums golden boy Nona?), it was better to use someone who at least was able to work with Gaz during a game as opposed to clashing with him (which I believe was the issue with Benji).

When you look at last years finalists, almost all of them have a controlling half and a half that plays off the cuff. I don't think it matters what their position is, 1 needs to run the game, the other needs to create opportunities. Last year we had that. This year it is still uncertain as to who does what.
 
Lovemedragons

Lovemedragons

Juniors
Messages
1,481
Old Timer said:
The issue re JDB is unfortunate but has to be dealt with.
I agree we should look at a high quality replacement if 1 is available but that may not necessarily be the case.
So in picking the forwards what do we know?
Well to begin with we need 10 (IMO no backs on the bench)
Vaughan is a starter (so need 9)
Mc Innes is a starter but needs a replacement so Robson gets a bench spot (so need 7)
Lawrie would be a starting prop for mine and that would put Graham on the bench and coming on at the time we are most vulnerable (so need 5)
Host & T Sims both starters (so need 3)
K Sims & Kerr as bench forwards (so need 1)
Now back to the lock position until Frizz comes back.
IMO Luc & Latimore are not the future so for mine time to blood Ford and see what he's got. I think he is 21 now and has had good form in lower grades so let's not make him the next Robson or Lomax because there will be other young forwards coming after him as well that need to be looked at in 2 or 3 years from now.
If he is on development contract and we cant get a senior high quality forward to replace JDB then best upgrade Ford's contract.
Click to expand...
I like your thinking as to what to do with what we have, makes a lot of sense.
 
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